christmas is a really sneaky lady. one moment it’s halloween and i have so many fabulous gift ideas (all homemade, thank you pinterest) and the next moment, overnight just isn’t soon enough. also sneaky? moving, new jobs, holidays & long awaited trips so far away you stopped counting the days until you realize you are flying out the next morning. so all of these things flew by in the last few weeks for me, and i am writing where it has finally slowed down, in the airport on the way to see B! it’s been a wonderful, busy and anxious month, and where it lacked in cooking i made up for pillaging the whole foods salad bar and using dark chocolate to ease the transition of leaving many of my close friends. this post originally had two very different ideas, one being some gifting ideas as promised, and the second my first recipe in weeks that turned out to be a huge hit for the Texans in my life. so like the best kind of yogurt, i am going to swirl them a bit.
one of my visions this year was to do a lot of do-good gifting. i drew inspiration off a high school classmate’s of mine adorable blog, Pancakes and Beet Juice. Lilly is a proud Dallas girl and incorporated a lot of local flavor into her suggestions, of which i ended up ordering roma boots for one of my best friends (they have a mission much like TOMS) and a couple out of print shirts for B and another close friend. i know i will be going back from a shirt of my own, but being an english major it really came down to being unable to decide which book i was most loyal too. speaking of books, i also spread some vegan love by gifting two books that were the biggest influence for me so far, thrive and eat to live…but i kept my own copy.
when i said i was an english major…
i also really like to give and receive gifts that are unique or will be a neat memory, so for my dad my brother and i chose some theater tickets and for my close friends ashley and brian i chose a subscription to a company called FillASeat that offers tickets to members to shows that are not sold out in their area. they aren’t in every city, but rapidly expanding. i rounded out my christmas shopping with some cheeky stocking stuffers for the men in my life (namely, my little brother) from rowdy gentleman, namely these very patriotic croakies.
lastly, in the few days i had at home before this leg of the trip i was able to do something i’ve really been looking forward to- cooking for my own family. i had the essential assistance of my oldest childhood friend supervising over a glass of wine and our family dog, bella, who had little patience for how much attention the spaghetti squash we getting.
hey! i am way cuter than that thing
i didn’t follow an exact recipe as i have been thinking of this one for a few weeks while i was in limbo with no kitchen. trying to go for something filling but vegan, i ended up vegan-izing a family favorite i have mentioned before- spaghetti and venison- but this version has a little longer title and a lot more vegetables. with just a few simple ingredients, pesto spaghetti squash with vegetarian sausage was born. to feed four, you will need an hour and the following…
- 1 large spaghetti squash
- 2 bell peppers, chopped
- 1 red onion, chopped
- Most of a bag of Le Grand Garden Pesto (i would have loved to try my own, but this was great in a pinch. i added and tasted until we liked it)
- 1 package of Field Roast Apple Sausage (all 4 links)
- salt and pepper to taste
- for the salad: chop and toss one head of romaine lettuce, carrots, 1 avocado, 1 cup chopped walnuts, and 1 1/2 cup cherry tomatoes with dressing of your choosing
while you gather your ingredients, preheat your over to 350F. once you have everything together…
- cut your spaghetti squash in half and place the two halves face down on a cooking sheet. place in the oven for 40-45 minutes (ours runs a bit hot). it was easier this time because i started by cutting the top of the squash
duh
- while the squash cooks, chop your onion, bell pepper and veggie sausage and put in a bowl. then chop your salad vegetables and place in a separate bowl with the torn lettuce. place the salad in the fridge to keep crisp
- with 10 minutes left on your timer, begin sautéing your bell peppers, onions and veggie sausage with olive oil in a large pan
- pull your spaghetti squash from the oven when the time is up. let it cool, then turn it on it’s side and lightly use the fork and rack the seeds out into the trash. once they are out, use a fork to shred the rest of the squash into a bowl. i went between this and stirring the veggies
- once the squash is shredded, finish up the veggies and mix them together. then add pesto to taste. light add a dash of salt and pepper if you like
- done! pull out the salad, mix in some dressing and serve it all up
pesto spaghetti squash with vegetarian sausage
and a simple salad
and four Texans ate is all, which i will call a success! i did wait till afterwards to tell my brother the sausage wasn’t exact meat, which caused a small ruckus.
i hope everyone is having a wonderful christmas, traveling safely, cooking delicious treats and enjoying your loved ones. merry christmas to you and yours!
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